Scent dispersing arrow

ABSTRACT

A scent dispersing arrow having a field tip, a shaft, a tail end, and a chamber in the shaft. The field tip allows the scent dispersing arrow to easily penetrate and remain standing in the ground. The shaft has two parts, separable at a point on the shaft that contains the chamber. The chamber has a plurality of holes in a portion of its wall that allow a scent contained within to disperse into the air only when a scent stick moves from the tapered end of the chamber to the section containing the holes, upon impact of the arrow with the ground. The tail end of the shaft contains a plurality of feathers or vanes which stabilize the scent arrow during flight. The chamber spans from a short length in the front part of the shaft to a tapered end in the back part of the shaft near the tail section. A solid scent holding stick within the chamber will disperse a scent into the air through the plurality of holes in the chamber walls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a scent dispersing arrow and more specifically to an arrow that is shot to a specific location to disperse a scent that will lure wild game to that location.

2. Description of Related Art

Bow and arrow hunters will often use a scented lure in order to lure wild game to a specific location, and hide and wait for the wild game to appear. There are a number of commercially produced scents available, each specific to a type of prey, such as deer. These commercially produced scents come in liquid, cartridge, or solid wick stick forms.

Various prior art scent dispersing arrows are available. U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,435 to Burgeson et al., issued Jul. 30, 1991, describes an arrow that uses Velcro® to attach a scent pad to the shaft of the arrow. One problem with this arrow is that the Velcro® could detach in midair. Another problem is that the Velcro® and scent pad will affect the balance of the arrow and the resulting trajectory.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,584 to Bishop, issued Feb. 23, 1988, describes an arrow having a detachable arrowhead. Liquid scents are poured into the hollow arrow at the head end after the head is detached, to be absorbed by an absorbent material inside the arrow located in a portion of the shaft having openings. A sliding sleeve covers the openings during priming and flight. When the arrow hits the ground, the sleeve slides toward the arrowhead to uncover the openings and allow the scent to disperse. A problem with this arrow is that the sleeve could stick and remain in position, preventing the scent from dispersing after the arrow hits the ground. Also, the user is required to pour a liquid scent into a hollow arrow, a messy and unpleasant experience. It is hard to judge how much liquid scent the absorbent material can hold. The tendency is to pour too much liquid scent, creating a mess. If not enough liquid scent is used, the arrow will not be fully effective. Another problem is that the entire arrow shaft is hollow. After the arrow has been shot, under the force of gravity, the liquid scent will tend to leave the absorbent material and the holes in the shaft, at the feather end and settle at the arrow end of the shaft, leaving the area of the absorbent material near the openings less concentrated and less effective.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,657 to Colt et al., issued Jun. 23, 1992, describes an arrow that utilizes a scent cartridge within a partially hollow shaft that is perforated by an internal blade upon the arrow's impact with the ground. The scent liquid then is supposed to leak out through a hole in the arrowhead. One problem with this arrow is that the cartridge may fail to shatter. Another problem is the hole in the arrowhead will get plugged up with dirt upon impact, sealing the liquid scent inside.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,905 to Edlund, issued Sep. 17, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,743 to Fiorenzo, issued Nov. 21, 1989; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,842 to McLearan, issued Nov. 17, 1998, are all arrows that release the scent from a specially constructed arrowhead, instead of the shaft. One problem with this design is that the weight of the arrow is dominated by the head, which will affect the trajectory and decrease the range of the arrow. Another problem is that when the arrowhead gets buried in the ground, the scent may be prevented from being released because of the clogged opening. Even when it is released, the liquid scent tends to be soaked up by the ground in a way that prevents the scent from being long-lasting. This is particularly true when the ground is wet and the moisture in the ground dilutes the liquid scent.

None of these scent arrows provide a clean, reusable, and easy to handle means of placing a scent in the arrow. None of the prior art arrows use unobstructable holes in the shaft to disperse the scent. None of the prior art arrows provide a scent chamber with holes that causes the concentration of the liquid scent to be at its peak upon impact. The scent dispersing arrow of the present invention addresses these deficiencies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The scent dispersing arrow of the invention uses a field tip, on a shaft with a scent chamber. The field tip allows the scent dispersing arrow to have a controlled flight and penetrate the target. The shaft has two sections that separate and attach at the chamber. The tail has standard feathers or vanes to stabilize the arrow during flight, and a nock for better balance on the bowstring. The chamber within the shaft extends from abut the middle of the shaft to near the tail section. The chamber has holes along half its length toward the tip end. The chamber is tapered to a narrower circumference at the tail end. A scent stick is held in place by the tapered sides of the chamber in the part of the chamber without holes. The force of the arrow impacting the ground causes the scent stick to slide down, in the chamber to the part of the chamber with the plurality of holes. The scent from the scent stick is dispersed through the plurality of holes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The exact nature of this invention, as well as the objects and advantages thereof, will become readily apparent from consideration of the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereof and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric assembly drawing of the scent dispersing arrow, showing the two separate sections of the shaft and the solid scent wick stick.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled arrow of FIG. 1 standing in the ground.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the scent dispersing arrow, showing two holes of the shaft connected, and the location of the scent stick in the chamber.

FIG. 4 is a cut-away side view of the scent dispersing arrow, showing the chamber, the slightly tapered circumference of the chamber at the feather end, and the scent stick in the chamber.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side cut-away of the arrow, illustrating the connection of two halves of the shaft.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a section of the shaft of FIG. 4 at 6-6, illustrating the scent stick inside the chamber.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a section of the shaft of FIG. 4 at 7-7, illustrating how the tapered end of the chamber with the scent stick in place.

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of an alternate embodiment of the scent dispersing arrow.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The scent dispersing arrow of the present invention provides several advantages over prior art arrows. It utilizes a solid scent stick as the source of the scent, to provide a clean, and easily usable, means of inserting a scent. It has an unobstructable plurality of holes in the shaft to disperse the scent, when the arrow reaches its target. Moreover, the scent dispersing holes are located on the shaft to concentrate scent dispersal upon impact.

The arrow of the present invention is shot to a specific location for dispersing a scent in order to lure wild game to that location without contaminating that location with human scent. Moreover, because of its natural flight characteristics, the bow and arrow hunter can use this scent arrow to determine the range of his shot. The scent arrow will penetrate and remain standing in the ground, leaving the shaft with the chamber exposed to the air. A scent stick within the shaft chamber moves to a dispersing location in the chamber upon impact, to disperse a scent into the air through the plurality of holes in the chamber walls.

FIG. 1 shows a scent arrow 100 having a field tip 102 which may be conical, tapering to a point. Any other pointed tip may also be used, so long a it allows the scent arrow 100 to easily penetrate and remain standing in the target, as illustrated by FIG. 2. Field tip 102 can be made out of metal, stone, plastic, wood, or any other similarly hard material. Field tip 102 can be available in different sizes and weights in order to provide the bow and arrow hunter with flexibility in controlling variables such as range, trajectory, accuracy, and ground penetration.

A shaft 104 is connected to the field tip 102. The shaft 104 can be made of wood, a light metal, graphite, plastic, or any other similar material. The shaft 104 is an elongated solid cylinder with a chamber 302 that is split into two separate sections, by front shaft 106 and rear shaft 108. This separation allows a scent stick 132 to be inserted into chamber 302 in the shaft 104.

The front shaft 106 of arrow 100 is made up of a field tip connecting shaft 110, having part of the chamber 302 with front holes section 112, and a cylindrical connecting section 114 extending from the front shaft 110. The rear shaft 108 contain the other half of the chamber 302 with rear holes 116 and tail shaft section 118.

Front holes section 112 is the hollow front part of chamber 302 and has a plurality of holes 120 in the chamber walls that are located around the circumference of front holes section 112. The forward most point of chamber 302, nearest field tip 102, of front holes section 112, is high enough on the shaft so that the holes section 112 is not buried in the ground when the scent arrow 100 impacts and penetrates the ground.

The cylindrical connecting section 114 is a hollow cylinder with a slightly smaller diameter than that of rear holes shaft section 116 of the chamber 302 in the rear shaft 108. Connecting section 114 also has a plurality of holes 122 that extend around the circumference of connecting section 114. A friction hold strip 124, which may be a strip of rubber or plastic wrap is located on the connecting section 104 and acts as a friction hold to hold the two arrow sections together.

The other half of chamber 302 in rear holes section 116 contains a plurality of holes 126 that extend longitudinally for a short distance from the open end of chamber 302. The chamber 302 of rear holes shaft section 116 has two different diameters. The larger diameter of rear holes shaft section 116 only extends far enough to mate with the diameter of connecting section 114 when it is inserted into rear holes section 116. The added wall thicknesses of connecting section 114 inside the rear holes section 116 will equal the inner diameter of the chamber 302 for the remaining length of the rear section 108.

Tail shaft section 118 carries a plurality of feathers or vanes 128 which are used to stabilize the scent arrow 100 while in flight. A nock 130 is connected to the rear of tail shaft section 118 to help balance the scent dispersing arrow 100 on a bowstring.

A scent stick 132 which is preferably a solid stick composed of an absorbent material having a length that may be slightly shorter than the combined length of front holes shaft section 112 and rear holes shaft section 116 is saturated with a commercially produced liquid scent. These scent sticks 132 may be purchased prepackaged or may be made by dipping a scent wick stick 132 into a commercially produced liquid scent. Scent wick sticks 132 may be made up at some time prior to the hunt in an environment that ensures the stick will be saturated. The scent sticks may then be packaged for transport into the field, thereby providing a clean and efficient means of dispersing a scent, because the bow and arrow hunter does not need to pour the liquid scent directly into the arrow while in the field.

FIG. 3 shows shaft 104 assembly, with front shaft 106 connected to rear shaft 108 and the plurality of holes 122 in the connecting section 114 with the plurality of holes 126 in the rear section 116. In order to connect front shaft 106 with rear shaft 108, the bow and arrow hunter will insert connecting section 114 into rear holes shaft section 116, making sure that the plurality of holes 122 in the connector 114 align with the plurality of holes 126 in the rear holes section. The friction hold strip 124 will ensure that connecting section 114 is securely seated inside rear holes shaft section 116 by providing a friction hold that is tight enough to prevent shaft connecting section 114 from twisting in rear holes shaft section 116, thereby, maintaining the alignment between the plurality of holes 122 and the plurality of holes 126.

Scent chamber 302 contains scent stick 132. Scent chamber 302 extends from the area of the tail shaft section 118 until the most forward point of front holes shaft section 112 near field tip 102. Scent stick chamber 302 is a cylindrical compartment that slightly tapers in diameter near the tail shaft section 118. This slight tapering holds the scent wick stick 132 in place near the tail shaft section 118, away from the plurality of holes 120, 122, and 126 in chamber 302, containing the scent within the chamber 302. When the scent arrow 100 impacts the ground, the force of the impact causes the scent stick 132 to slide down towards the arrow tip and under the plurality of holes 120, 122, and 126 in the chamber walls, coming to a rest at the forward point of front holes shaft section 112.

FIG. 4 shows the chamber 302 and the connection between connecting section 114 and rear holes shaft section 116. The chamber 302 is shown slightly tapered at the rear end nearest the tail section in order to hold the scent stick 132 in place until the scent arrow 100 impacts the ground. The chamber 302 need not be tapered. The scent stick will slide to the back of the chamber 302 when the arrow is placed in the bow. It will stay there through the rise path of the arrow's trajectory and will start moving toward the front during the fall part. FIG. 4 shows how the scent stick 132 will slide down the inside of chamber 302 to the area of the plurality of holes once the scent arrow 100 impacts the ground.

FIG. 5 is a magnified view of the connection between inner shaft connecting section 114 and rear holes shaft section 116 which shows the preferred embodiment for mating arrangement between the front section 112 and the rear section 116.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show cross-sections of the compartment 302 at two different locations. FIG. 6 shows that there is a small space in the chamber between the scent stick 132 and the chamber wall at the tail section 118. FIG. 7 shows how the slightly tapered walls of chamber 302 hold the scent wick stick 132 in place at the back end of the chamber 302 until scent arrow 100 impacts the ground.

FIG. 8 shows an alternative preferred embodiment of the scent arrow 800. The shaft connector section 814 is a cylinder with outside threads that thread into rear shaft section 816 which has inside threads. This embodiment provides a more secure connection between the front shaft 804 and rear shaft 806.

The various embodiments of the scent dispersing arrow previously described allow a bow and arrow hunter to disperse a scent at a distance in order to lure wild game to a location without contaminating that location with human odor. Furthermore, the bow and arrow hunter can use this scent dispersing arrow to determine the range of his shot. The bow and arrow hunter will shoot the scent dispersing arrow to the desired location. The scent dispersing arrow will penetrate and remain standing in the ground, leaving the shaft suspended in the air. The scent stick slides down within the section chamber to the area of the shaft where there is a plurality of holes, thereby dispersing the scent into the air, attracting the desired wild game.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without all of the specifically enumerated details and that the embodiments can be modified so as to provide additional or alternative capabilities. The foregoing description is for illustrative purposes only. Various changes and modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the overall spirit and scope of the present invention presented in the appended claims and their equivalents. 

1. An scent dispersing arrow, comprising: a shaft having a front part and a back part, the front and back parts being removably connectable, a chamber located in the shaft with a portion of the chamber in the front part and a portion of the chamber in the back part, a plurality of holes in the walls of the chamber; a field tip at the front end of the front part of the shaft; a tail section at the back end of the back portion of the shaft; and a slidable scent holding stick in the chamber.
 2. The arrow of claim 1 wherein the field tip has a conical shape that comes to a point.
 3. The arrow of claim 1 wherein the shaft can be separated into two sections so that the scent holding stick can be inserted into the shaft.
 4. The arrow of claim 3 wherein the front part and back part of the shaft are connected by a friction hold.
 5. The arrow of claim 3 wherein the front part and back part of the shaft are connected by threading.
 6. The arrow of claim 1 wherein the chamber walls taper to a smaller diameter near the back end of the chamber in the back part of the shaft.
 7. The arrow of claim 1 wherein the scent stick is a solid scent wick.
 8. The arrow of claim 1 wherein the scent stick is an absorbent pad containing a liquid scent.
 9. The arrow of claim 7 wherein the plurality of holes are positioned towards the front of the chamber.
 10. The arrow of claim 1 wherein the front end of the chamber in the front part of the shaft is high enough on the shaft so that this part of the shaft will not be buried when the arrow penetrates the ground. 